Ergonomic Phone Support Device for Smartphone Pinky Finger
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Solution Overview
Problem
The increased size and weight of smartphones lead to ergonomic issues, causing fatigue and potential injury to the small finger when users adopt a non-ergonomic grip to hold the device, resulting in conditions like 'smartphone pinky finger' due to prolonged use.
Innovation Solution
A finger-engageable support device with a curved projection that can be attached to a smartphone casing, featuring three curved surface areas to provide comfortable support and prevent the user from curving their small finger underneath the device, encouraging an ergonomic grip by allowing the phone to be safely tilted backwards.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Duration of action of moving object
If the user adopts a non-ergonomic grip with the small finger curved underneath the smartphone to support its weight, then the hand can hold the device for longer periods without fatigue, but the small finger suffers from compression injury and permanent curvature damage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a curved support projection as an intermediary element between the smartphone and the user's small finger. This projection is integrated into the smartphone casing and provides a dedicated ergonomic surface that distributes the phone's weight across multiple fingers rather than concentrating it on the small finger, thereby preventing compression injury while enabling prolonged holding duration
Solution Approach 2:
The patent modifies the local quality of the smartphone casing by adding a specifically shaped curved support projection at the bottom edge. This localized structural feature creates an ergonomic contact surface with optimized curvature and surface area that distributes pressure evenly, transforming the harmful concentrated compression into a safe distributed load that can be sustained indefinitely
2Use of energy by moving object
If the smartphone increases in size and weight to improve battery life and video interface technology, then the device provides enhanced functionality and display quality, but the small finger becomes unable to support the weight, causing fatigue and injury
Solution Approach 1:
The curved support projection acts as a structural counterweight mechanism by redistributing the gravitational load of the heavier smartphone. The projection's geometry is designed to create optimal leverage and force distribution, transferring the weight burden from the vulnerable small finger to the stronger adjacent fingers and the palm, thereby enabling users to hold larger, heavier devices with enhanced battery capacity without suffering fatigue or injury
3Reliability
If the user grips the smartphone tightly between the thumb and fingers to prevent it from falling, then the phone remains secure, but the hand muscles fatigue quickly and the phone may slip from the relaxed grip
Solution Approach 1:
The curved support projection creates an equipotential distribution of contact forces across the fingers supporting the smartphone. By providing a ergonomically optimized surface that distributes weight evenly, the projection eliminates the need for excessive gripping force, allowing the hand to maintain a relaxed yet secure hold over extended periods without muscle fatigue or phone slippage
Data Source
AI summary
A support for a hand held phone or computing device is formed by a curved, elongated projection extending from a first end engagement with the phone or computing device to a distal end extending a distance past a portion of the perimeter edge of the phone or computing device. A curve formed on a first surface of the projection is adapted to contact the curved surface of a finger of a user placed against the perimeter edge of the phone or computing device to support it during use. The first end engagement can be formed as a permanent, rotational or removable engagement.